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CNN International: Repairing Wounds of War in Ukraine; OPEC Plus to Cut Production by 1M Plus Barrels a day from May; Many Condemn Yogurt Attack on 2 Women not Wearing Hijab; Should Rental E-Scooters be Banned from City Centers; Taiwanese President Continues International Tour in Belize. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 03, 2023 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead Russian authorities detained the suspect. The claim was involved in a blast that killed a pro war Russian blogger. Former President Trump will be on his way to New York in a few hours for his historic criminal arraignment and miracles on the war front lines.

David McKenzie follows a group of doctors performing facial reconstruction surgery in Ukraine. The Kremlin says Ukraine may be behind a blast that killed a prominent Russian Military blogger and injured more than 30 others. It happened at a cafe in St. Petersburg over the weekend. Vladlen Tatarsky died in the explosion.

Russian authorities have detained a female suspect who they claim was involved in the blast. And they say Kyiv and supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny helped plan the attack. Ukraine suggested in fighting in Russia was to blame.

On Twitter, a top presidential aide said it was only a matter of time before domestic terrorism in Russia would become an instrument of an internal political fight. CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments joins us live here in London. What do we know about the arrest today?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so they've arrested a native of St. Petersburg, 26-year-old Darya Trepova. She appeared on the Interior Ministry wanted list earlier today. She has according to TASS been arrested in the past participating in an anti-war protest the very first day of the war last year.

That's according to the Russian state news agency TASS as I say, there has been a video, Max, and that's emerged from the Russian Interior Ministry. We're not showing it to you because of the possibility we don't know for sure, but there is a possibility it could have been extracted under duress where she was asked she says look, I was at the scene that's why I've been arrested.

She says that she had a figurine which exploded, but when asked who gave it to her. She declined to answer that. So that is out there. Meanwhile, of course, as you say, there's a lot of politics behind this. This is happening in the context of this war, the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov coming out and echoing comments from the Anti- Terror Committee saying that he believes this was Ukraine.

He says they've been killing people since 2014 and that he says is why the special military operation is happening. So the investigation is still ongoing we're finding out more details. But it is clear at this point that Russia intends to use this as more evidence of what it constantly claims is the criminality of the Ukrainian regime.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you. The Head of the Russian mercenary group, Wagner says a Russian flag has been raised in memory to Tatarsky on the battlefield in Bakhmut are those comments from Yevgeny Prigozhin. Coming in a brief video he claims was recorded in the Eastern Ukrainian city.

CNN can't immediately confirm the location where it goes and recorded the message, holding a flag that was indistinct in the darkness there. Meanwhile, Ukraine is denying claims that mercenaries have captured Bakhmut, saying its forces are still in the fight.

In the past hour, the Finnish presidency announced that Finland will officially become a NATO member on Tuesday. Finland's President will travel to the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels for a flag raising ceremony, followed by a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

This is only one day after Finland's right wing National Coalition Party claimed victory in the country's parliamentary election, defeating Prime Minister Sanna Marin's center left Social Democratic Party. Marin who has conceded the election faced criticism for government's public spending.

The NCP won the most votes, followed by the Nationalist Finns Party and the Social Democrats. NCPs leader Petteri Orpo will now have to negotiate with all political groups to obtain a majority in parliament and form a new government.

The Biden Administration says it's not happy after several of the worlds largest oil exporters, announced plans to cut their production. From next month members of the OPEC group including Saudi Arabia say they'll voluntarily reduce production by no more than 1 million barrels a day.

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The White House says the move isn't advisable given market uncertainty and Oil prices surged on the news. CNN's Jerry Diamond is at the White House, and that was their big fear, wasn't it the rising oil price?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly was, and we are seeing it already coming true as oil markets is reacting to this decision to cut production. I mean, look, you cut oil production that's going to cause oil prices to spike. And then the real fear here at the White House is that could cause gas prices here at home to go up. We know that gas prices have been such an important driver of inflation, which the White House has been struggling to tame. And so this only adds to the concerns that inflation will be prolonged. This is a more than 1 million barrels per day production cut by OPEC +, that adds to the 2 million barrel per day cut that they announced back in October.

And Saudi Arabia is positioning this move as something aimed to stabilize the oil markets. Clearly what they're trying to do is also to protect oil prices, which is a major source of revenue for them. The White House doesn't see it that way. They say "We don't think cuts are advisable at this moment given market uncertainty and we've made that clear.

We will continue to work with all producers and consumers to ensure energy markets support economic growth and lower prices for American consumers". Now you'll recall that back in October, when OPEC Plus announced that previous oil production cut, the White House was furious President Biden said that there would be consequences for Saudi Arabia for doing this.

He said that he viewed it as an attempt to help Russia mitigate the loss of revenue that they were facing those consequences though, Max, they never materialized. And that is a key part of this story here. And so now we're at a point where gas prices right now in the U.S. are at about $3.51 a gallon that's about 10 cents up from last month, but still much lower than where we were a year ago at about $4.20 a gallon.

So it's hard to predict exactly what the effects will be on gas prices here in the U.S. But certainly the fear at the White House is that it will send those gas prices back up, which of course, is bad politics here for President Biden could prolong inflation, and of course, all this coming as he's preparing to announce a reelection campaign for 2024 at least that's the expectation, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us from the White House. 2 women in Iran have been arrested after a man threw yogurt on them for not wearing the hijab. This viral CCTV video shows the moment when a man enters a shop in the City of Shandiz then proceeds to dump a tub of yogurt on the women's heads.

Iranian media report, the two women were detained for not covering their hair. And the man has also been arrested for disturbance of public order that's according to Iranian Officials. CNN's Nada Bashir has been following the story and joins us from London. I mean, it's a very stark video, isn't it, which really tells a story of how women are still facing this sort of ordeal there?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, it really is a representation of what women are having to face day in and day out in Iran and as we begin to see these protests that we have seen since September of last year, continuing but on a smaller scale.

It has to be said women are still bravely defying those mandatory regulations put in place by the regime and the severe restrictions on women's rights, namely the mandatory hijab which is enforced by law and that was the message from Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi speaking over the weekend during a conference in Tehran.

He said that regardless of your beliefs, when it comes to wearing the hijab, this is a legal matter and all women in Iran are obligated to follow the law and of course, these two women seen in that CCTV footage coming under attack a man throwing yogurt at them for entering the soul with their hair uncovered.

They now according to Iran's judicial body have been arrested joining countless other women who have faced criminal punishment as a result of their decision to uncover their hand. We've seen in the past, many women facing violence at the hands of Iran's notorious morality police.

Now, as you said that the attacker in question has also been detained for disturbing public ordinary as we understand it. The shopkeeper who can be seen in that CCTV footage pushing the attacker out of the store off camera has also faced a warning but this has sparked outcry both outside of Iran and within Iran.

And while those protests are still continuing on a smaller scale, they are continuing despite the brutal crackdown by the Iranian regime, and they have so far not let up on those regulations. They haven't moved on those stuck and stringent regulations on women's dress code and women's rights.

But we are seeing in you know bigger cities and malls and train stations even in Universities, women now walking without their hijabs, without the mandatory scars and taking this brave show of defiance against the regime severe restrictions, Max.

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FOSTER: OK Nada, thank you. Bearing to the demands of Israel's far right Security Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has agreed to create a national guard. The controversial move comes days after Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded action on the proposal in exchange for agree to pause in the government's judicial reform plans.

Mr. Netanyahu's cabinet didn't say who would run the new police force that will be determined by committee in the next 90 days. The guard would be charged with dealing with emergency situations but the guard proposal has already set up protests in several cities. Critics fear it will target Israeli Arabs and if Ben-Gvir controls it could become an extremist private militia.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak calls it a lunatic step given Ben- Gvir's history of inciting racism and supporting terrorism. Still to come it was one of the first cities to introduce e-scooters on its streets, but in September, Paris will become the first major European capital to ban them over security concerns in general clutter will ask if others should follow suit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) In the coming hours Former U.S. President Donald Trump is set to leave Florida and head to New York where he's expected to appear in court on Tuesday and Manhattan grand jury has indicted him for his alleged role in the hush money payment scheme.

Sources tell CNN Mr. Trump will immediately return to Florida after his unprecedented court appearance to deliver remarks at his Mar-a- Lago home. Paula Reid is joining us live from New York soon. We had to speak to her but she's not quite available yet.

Now should rental e-scooters be banned from city centers? Paris will become the first European capitals to ban electronic or electric scooters from the streets just over 100,000 Persians cast their vote in the referendum with nearly 90 percent of them voting against e- scooters. But despite the low voter turnout, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed the votes as a success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE HIDALGO, PARIS MAYOR: I must admit that we are very pleasantly surprised by this rate of participation, especially in a context of great conflict in the country of extremely important social movements, which are not over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: In 2018, Paris was one of the first major cities to introduce e-scooters but only last year, the French capital has registered more than 400 accidents involving them. The ban will take place from September the 1st.

We're going to bring in CNN's Melissa Bell who joins us from the French capital. I mean, it is quite stark, isn't it? If you haven't been to Paris for a while, how many there are? So what were these complains largely about?

[08:15:00]

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well there is that question of the safety, Max, that you mentioned a moment ago not just the many hundreds of injuries that are every year either from people riding them and falling off, or indeed, to the damage done to pedestrians by these vehicles, which as you say, you'll see all over the French capital in really going pretty fast a lot of the time.

There is the danger to ordinary pedestrians and these are vehicles remember that you will often see a whole bunch of teenagers on 2 or 3 at a time driven fairly recklessly, often without a helmet, and not always with a very clear sense of where they're going or how fast they're trying to get there.

And that's been one of the main concerns just the shear hazard it's become across a Parisian Street, given these vehicles going back and forth, often in the opposite direction to the car traffic as well. Then there is the issue of the clutter, Max, there are those who felt and leading amongst them, of course. The Mayor of Paris that you just heard from their Anne Hidalgo, that they were not in fact, as ecological as they'd been billed as when they were first introduced, simply because they get discarded, thrown into the sand left on the side of the street in aesthetically cluttering up the streets of Paris, but also ultimately, being far from ecologically sound.

That had been her main complaint but in the end, it is that huge percentage that are voted against 90 percent saying they want them gone but only 8 percent of those eligible who turned out to vote. She hailed it as a great success in terms of turnout, it was remarkably low.

In the end, the people who went out to vote appear to have been this Sunday, those who were steadfastly against, and who felt that they'd become just too hazardous for the streets of Paris. But it will change we had become so used to them. They're such an important feature now of the French Capital that by the end of the summer, you can expect to see a very different looking city indeed, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, indeed, they were ahead of the curve, weren't they? They've learned that they don't want them there anymore. Do you think the same is going to happen in other cities across Europe they've picked up the idea, haven't they?

BELL: I think it is likely that we'll start seeing that. Remember that when they were first introduced back in 2018 when Paris was the first city to adopt them, Max, there was very little in the way of regulation. It was a bit of a wild world out there and many different operators came in.

Now regulation has been put it in Paris, for instance. Now the daily feed is capped to 15,000 for the city, and that's happened elsewhere. I think what's quite where this kind of city wide referendum and city wide ban is. But I'm sure that other capitals be looking at what Paris has done to see whether or not they should follow suit.

Bear in mind, though, that they are pretty popular as well. I mean, not that many people turned out to vote in Paris for this referendum that was held on Sunday, no doubt for a number of different reasons. I need that go referred there to the social protest going on at the moment.

A lot of people not venturing to the French Capital if they could avoid it generally at the moment, but there is the question of their popularity if you look at that fleet that I mentioned here in Paris, each single vehicle is used 3.5 times a day.

There are a lot of people who find them really convenient, not least the young to get around the streets of European capitals. So I think the question will be whether people elsewhere will have seen that the dangers vastly outweigh the advantages, and indeed how many people turn up if and when a referendum should be held, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa in Paris, thank you as ever. Coming up, CNN meets a team of highly specialized plastic surgeons, retreating people left disfigured by the war in Ukraine, helping them to face the future.

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FOSTER: Thousands of people have been wounded in the war in Ukraine; many have suffered critical injuries and need urgent care. But there are also a lot of people who need help, because they've been disfigured. CNN's David McKenzie met surgeons from the U.S. and Canada who performing facial reconstruction surgery will warn you though, that some viewers may find some of these images, hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With left and right.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The impact of war is hard to look at.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at my finger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The difficulty that I'm having is that I don't know what anything looks like behind the skin here. I can make an opening that looks like there's an eye but they're never going to look like normal eyelids.

MCKENZIE (voice over): And the surgical realities are nothing like civilian life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

MCKENZIE (on camera): How do you compare it to here in Ukraine?

DR. ANTHONY BRISSETT, MISSION DIRECTOR AT FACE THE FUTURE: Well, the level of complexity for these cases is significantly more elaborate and significantly more complex. I think we can get the mouth working better --.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Face the Future Mission Director Anthony Brissett, says the blast injuries are often devastating.

BRISSETT: One of the things that we can do is improve the appearance of the scar.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Multilevel bone and soft tissue injuries.

BRISSETT: And really does not get any more complex than this even in a combat scenario.

MCKENZIE (voice over): They brought together highly specialized plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses from the U.S. and Canada to reconstruct and repair.

BRISSETT: All that bone is missing.

MCKENZIE (voice over): What many cannot? BRISSETT: And if we can do that, then that certainly is a fulfilling opportunity.

MCKENZIE (on camera): It's not just the physical change. It's a psychological help you have.

BRISSETT: Absolutely, and it's a psychological help not just for the patient, but also for their family.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Roman Belinsky is one of their patients. He is invited us to his home? What do I think of him? I'm proud of my son says his mother Lesya. I'm proud of him. I'm proud of the fact that he didn't run away. He didn't hide. Early in the war his mechanized infantry brigade faced the brunt of Russia's invasion and them oncoming tanks.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Are you surprised that you survived?

MCKENZIE (voice over): I do not understand how I survived, he says. I don't even understand how I got through the shelling because it was dark. I was hanging out I was concussed. My whole face was covered in blood. Shrapnel went right through me. He says many in his brigade were lost.

We were all like one family he says, you know, somewhere you feel your guilt. But I didn't also die like they did. Roman lives and this will be his third surgery with Dr. John Frodel.

DR. FRODEL, FACIAL PLASTIC SURGEON: What bothers you the most now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope is that at some point, they leave happy that I don't see them again.

FRODEL: On my end what I have to appreciate we're making steps because we don't fix them, we make them better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is where we shine, which is in the operating room. All of the steps and activities that we're doing before getting here is really to get us to this point.

MCKENZIE (voice over): Roman surgery is one of the first of the day, he says Dr. Frodel and the team have already put him back together and saved his life.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Dr. Frodel is working to move a cheek implant just a tiny bit higher under a mouth and margins in this kind of surgery are very small, but the differences for the patients can be huge.

DR. PETER ADAMSON, FOUNDER OF FACE THE FUTURE: A person's appearance is a reflection of their inner spirit of their inner self to the world. And we must never forget that but everyone wants to have a facial appearance that others want to look at and would want to get to know him. It's part of the human condition.

MCKENZIE (voice over): David McKenzie, CNN Ivano-Frankivsk Ukraine. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: --there, Taiwan's President is in the Middle East. Rather, he's not at least at all. He's in the middle of a turn that they're in the middle of a 10-day trip across Central America and North America this past week. She spent 3 days in Guatemala and is now visiting neighboring Belize.

She's trying to deepen connections with allies as a growing number of countries are abandoning Taipei for Beijing. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen travelled to Belize Sunday after wrapping up a 3-day visit to neighboring Guatemala.

[08:25:00]

Earlier Sunday President Tsai Ing host Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei toured the hospital in Chimaltenango city about an hour west of the Guatemalan Capital. The Medical Center was built thanks to a $22 million donation from Taiwan.

Once again, President Tsai praised the Guatemalan government for its support to her country, saying that Taiwan will continue to cooperate and provide assistance to its democratic partners around the world. President Giammattei reiterated his country's support for Taiwan.

I reaffirm before you the unconditional commitment that Guatemala is an essential part of its foreign policy will continue to support the recognition of Taiwan sovereignty, he said. President Giammattei went even further at a public event Saturday when he reiterated that Taiwan is in his words, an independent nation and the only and true China with which Guatemala shares democratic values, mutual respect and paternal ties.

Tsai's visit to Central America happened only a week after Honduras; another Central American country broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan after 80 years just before forging a new alliance with China. Now Taiwan has only 13 diplomatic partners, mainly small countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On Friday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the One China policy should be accepted worldwide; adding that she hopes Guatemala makes the right decision to stop supporting Taiwan in the near future.

On Monday, Taiwanese President Tsai is expected to sign several agreements with the government of Belize before meeting with Prime Minister Johnny Briceno. She's traveling to California later in the week before returning home and already visited New York last week as part of her 10-day trip to the region, Rafael Romo CNN Atlanta.

FOSTER: Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Patrick Snell is up next.

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